Telephone handset



Oct. 25, 1949. e. DEAKlN 2,485,574

TELEPHONE HANDSET Filed April 6, 1945 llll ll llll I! INVENTOR. 05mm DE/IM/V AGE/VT Patented Oct. 25, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TELEPHONE HANDSET Application April 6, 1945, Serial No. 586,861

3 Claims.

This invention relates to telephone apparatus andmore particularly to telephone handsets of the unitary transmitter and receiver kind.

Various forms of telephone handsets have been proposed wherein the transmitter and receiver are mounted within a unitary housing which constitutes the hand grip for the set. In one constructionwhich has come into quite general use, the handset when not in'use is placed upon a suitable support which houses theringer, induction coil and the circuit control contact springs. This support has heretofore included one or more spring-pressed buttons which are mounted for slidable motion through the top wall of the support, so that whenthe handset is placed on the support the weight of the handset depresses the buttons to open the talking circuit contacts and to close the ringer circuit. There are certain disadvantages to this known construction. In the first place, it is not feasible to mount the circuit control contact springs inside the handset, and

they must be mounted in the supporting housing, thus increasing the wiring and assembly cost of the complete set. Secondly, when the handset is removed from its support during use, the circuit control buttons are completely exposed. Conse-- quently, if accidentally the buttons should bedepressed, the disconnect signal may be given at the central ofiice,'-and in the case of automatic oflices, a complete breakdown of the previouslyestablished connection may ensue. Thirdly, since the handset is supported on two relatively small buttons, it is capable of considerable sliding motion on the support, and if the support is not level, it may cause unequal loads on the two buttons and the associated spring sets. Furthermore, if during conversation the subscriber wishes to give the disconnectsignal, he must either replace the entire handset on the support, or manually depress the-buttons in the support. In an eliort to overcome some of the above disadvantages, it has beenproposed to mount the contact spring assembly within the handset and to provide a button on the handset for controlling the springs. With such an arrangement, if the talking circuit is designed to be open when the button is not pressed, it is necessary for the subscriber not only to lift-the handset from the support, but also to press the control button and keep it pressed during the entire conversational period; If, on'the other hand, the set is'designed soth'at the'contacts are normally closed when the button is unpressed, there is always the possibility of accidentally touching the protruding button during conversation and giV- vided with one or more openings in its wall ad- 2 ing the disconnect signal which may result in breaking down of the established connection.

Accordingly, one of the main objects of the present invention is to overcome the above-noted and other disadvantages whichexist in the usual handset type of telephone subscribers subset.

A feature of the invention relates to a telephone handset wherein the circuit control contact spring assembl is mounted within the hand. grip portion of the handset, and the. associated line loop is automatically completed merely by lifting the handset from its support.

Another feature relates to a telephone subset comprising a supporting housing for the handset, which housing can be completely closed against the ingress of dust or moisture which is not possible where the housing has one or more springpressed slidable buttons.

Another feature relates to a telephone subset wherein the handset carries the microphone, receiver and control contact assembly, and is projacent the spring assembly. The support upon which the handset rests when not in use, is provided with one or more projections or knobs which are arranged to register with the said openings to move the contact springs to the non-talking position.

A further feature relates to the novel organization, arrangement and relative location of parts which cooperate to provide a more efficient telephone subscribers subset.

Other features and advantages not particularly set forth will be apparent after a consideration of the following detailed descriptions and the appended claims.

In the drawing which represents one preferred manner of practising theinvention,

Fig. 1 is a front view of a telephone subset embodying the inventive concept. In this view the handset is partly broken away to show the interior arrangement more clearly.

Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of Fig. l taken'along the line 22 thereof.

Fig. 3 is a schematic circuit diagram showing the wiring connections of the handset of Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is another view of part of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a telephone subscribers substation set comprising a support or housing I of suitable material, and which is adaptedto. enclose the usual ringer and inductioncoil'units. The upper face of housing I is provided with a channeled standard or cradle 2 having parallel lateral ribs 3, 4, and a pair of knobs or projections 5, 6 located in alignment centrally of the housing I. The wiring to the several units within the housing I can be made by a suitable'fiexible cable I which may extend through a side wall of the housing, and the opening may be provided with a suitable bushing or washer to prevent ingress of dust or moisture. The base of housing I may be closed with a suitable dust-proof and moisture-proof cover plate 8.

Associated with the support I is a telephone handset which may be of any well-known construction such as employed quite generally in socalled French models of subscribers subsets. It comprises a hollow housing having a comparatively constricted portion 9 which terminates in substantially cylindrical end portions II], II. A

suitable microphone of any well-known construction is mounted within portion I0, and any wellknown construction of telephone reproducer or receiver is mounted within portion II. A suitable perforated closure member I2 forming the mouthpiece is threaded onto portion I0, and a suitable perforated earpiece I3 is threaded onto portion II. Inasmuch as such constructions and assemblies are well-known in the art, further description thereof is not deemed necessary herein.

In accordance with the invention, the lower wall I4 of the hand grip portion 9 is provided with twospaced openings I5, IS with which the projections 5 and B are adapted to register when the handset is placed on support I. For this purpose the openings I5 and I6 are preferably of the same contour as the cross-sectional contour of projections 5 and 6, and the said projectionsare sufiiciently long so that when the handset rests on cradle 2, as shown in Fig. l, the projections pass through the wall I4 for thepurpose to be described. Preferably the openings I5, I6 are appreciably larger in transverse dimensions than the projections 5, 6, was to enable the handset to be readily placed in proper position on cradle 2.

Suitably fastened to the interior side of wall I4 is a contact spring pile-up comprising a pair of adjacent spaced and relatively narrow contact springs I1, I8 and a relatively wide contact spring I9 whose free end is bent back upon itself to provide a contact face which overlies the adjacent contact ends of springs II, I8. The spings at their righthand ends are supported and fastened, in the usual manner, between suitable insulator strips, to form a contact pile-up. This pile-up also includes a spring finger 20 which is normally biassed downwardly to engage the wall I4 as shown in Fig. 4. The free end 2I of spring 20 is bent as shown, to provide a smoothly-curved face where it engages the spring I 9, it being understood that the spring 20 is out of contact with spring I9 but spring I9 is normally in contact engagement with the adjacent ends of springs I'I, I8, as shown in Fig. 4. The main length of spring 20 is flat and is sufficiently wide to completely close off the opening I5. This bent end is however slightly foreshortened with respect to opening I5, so thatv when the spring 20 is in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 4, the lip 22 lies flush with theinner surface of wall I4, thus completely closing off that opening. However, the spring 20 does not extend outwardly beyond the wall I4. The manner of connecting the microphone and receiver units to the several contact springs is schematically shown in Fig. 3. If desired, the lip 22 of spring 20 may carry an insulating button 23, if the springs I9 4 and 2|] are to be insulated from" each other in the normal position.

With the described embodiment, when the handset is not in use it rests on cradle 2 whereby one of the projections 5 or 6 engages the spring 20 which presses the spring I9 upwardly to open the circuit between contacts II, I8 and I9. When the handset is raised from its support, the spring I9 returns to normal and closes the circuit between IT, I8 and I9, thus connecting the transmitter and receiver units in the talking circuit. If, during conversation, the subscriber wishes to disconnect momentarily between making another call, it is not necessary to replace the handset since the opening I5 is' located conveniently for insertion of the finger to operate spring 20 to give the disconnect signal. -In case the subscriber is connected vto a manual operator's switchboard the subscriber can flash in the operator by inserting a finger in the hole I5 and depressing spring 2 I.

Whilethedrawing shows a single set of contact springs adjacent opening I5, it will be understood that a similar set of springs may be provided adjacent opening l6. Likewise, the opening I6 may be provided-with a re-entrant cover if only one set of springs is used. If desired, the portion of the wall I4 to which the spring assembly is fastened, may be in the form of a removable plate to facilitate the assembly and wiring within the handset.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the disclosed embodiments without ole-- parting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:'

1. A telephone handset comprising, a hollow member having a hand grip portion intermediate its ends and carrying transmitter and receiver units at opposite ends, a support for said handset, said support having a pair of projections, a contact spring assembly within'said hand grip .por-' tion, said hand grip portion having a pair of openings in the wall thereof adapted to register with said pair of projections on said support for controlling the position of said contact springs.

2. In a telephone subscribers set, the combination of a housing enclosing telephone units, a unitary handset comprising transmitter and receiver units and a contact spring assembly on the interior thereof, said handset having a pair of openings therein adjacent to said assembly, a pair of rigid spaced projections on said housing arrangedto register with and protrude through said openings in said handset when the said handset is not in use.

3. The combination according to claim 2 in which said contact spring assembly is in the disconnect position when depressed by at least one of said projections on said support, and in the connected position when said projections on said support do not depress said contact spring assembly.

GERALD DEAKIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of recordin the file of this patent: i UNITED STATES PATENTS Dilg July 18, 1933 

